There have been a lot of news stories about PPE shortages for medical personal around the world, especially when it comes to masks, shields, and eye protection. I've even heard stories about people having to use the same N95 masks for days on end. I am not really sure how much this will help. I had an idea that I built over the weekend after reading about the death of 26 year old Dr. Usama Riaz, which was a result of treating people with Covid-19 despite not having any form or PPE. I thought there must be a cheaper solution where his face could have been covered, and some solution for using a filter that could be easily sanitized and reused. It's heartbreaking that such a selfless person had to die so young. Perhaps if I could have gotten this out there sooner, as it would have been better than the nothing Dr. Riaz was using.

His story inspired me to design something I call the Filter Adapted Snorkel Tube (F.A.S.T) Mask. I am by no means a an expert in the medical device space, but rather just a nerd with 3D printer, ideas a plenty, some talents, and time to spare. The design objectives I hoped to achieve for this project were:

    1. Protect users' entire face.
    2. Keep the filter as isolated and clean as possible. (No facial oil contamination and mitigate direct body fluid exposure.)
    3. No tooling required. KISS!
    4. Easy sterilization.
    5. Reusability.
    6. Parts must be easily acquirable globally.
    7. Provide a consistent seal between the filter and filter holder.

Here's a link to the project:

https://github.com/magnetic-pi/fast-mask

Stay safe out there everyone!